By default, each section of a report appears white so its
background would print as transparently as possible on a white piece of paper.
If you want, you can change the background color of any section. To change the
color of a section:

You can right-click the section or its bar, position the mouse on
Fill/Back Color, and select a color from the window

You can click a section or its bar. Then, in the Font section of the
Design tab of the Ribbon, click the arrow of the Fill/Back Color button and
select the desired color from the window

You can double-click the section or its bar to access its Properties
window. Then, in the Format or the All tab of the Properties window, click
Back Color and select the desired color

If you specify the background color other than white for a
section, you should set the same background color for the controls in that
section.

To create a new report, on the Ribbon, click Create and, in the Report
section, click Report Wizard

In the Tables/Queries combo box of the first page of the wizard, select
CarsCategories if necessary.
In the Available Fields list, double-click Category, DailyRate, WeeklyRate,
MonthlyRate, and WeekendRate

Click Next, Next, and Next

Make sure the Tabular radio button is selected and click Next

Select the Civic style and click Next

Change the title to RentalRates and click Finish

Right-click the title bar of the report and click Design View

Click Page Header

On the Ribbon, click Design if necessary.
In the Font section, click the arrow of the Fill/Back Color button and
select Maroon (Standard Colors: 1st row - 6th column)

On the report, right-click the Detail bar, position the mouse on Fill/Back
Color, and select Brown 4 (5th row - 10th column)

The Alternate Background Color of a Section

If you create repeating colors on a report, you can make the
other occurrence of a section show a different color. This means that you can
make every odd occurrence show a certain background color and every even
occurrence to show a certain background color. This is referred to as
alternating the colors.

To apply the color alternating feature, first select a
section and set its background color using the Fill/Back Color button. Then:

While the same section is selected, in the Font section of the Design tab
of the Ribbon, click the arrow of the Alternate Fill/Back Color button
and select a color

While the same section is selected, in the Format or the All tab of the
Properties window, click Alternate Color, then click the arrow of its combo
box and select the desired color

Right-click the section or its bar, position the mouse on Alternate
Fill/Back Color and select the desired alternate color

Here is an example of the type of result you could get:

Practical
Learning: Setting the Alternate Background Color of a Section

If you create a report and design it with the default
settings, the first record displays. If its values do not cover the whole page,
the values of the next record start displaying on the same page but, if the next
record cannot completely fit on that first page, it does not print on that page.
Instead, it prints on the next page. This means that more than one record can
print on the same page if and only if all those records can fit each completely
on that page. In some cases, such as if you have a report that displays a type
of magazine, brochure, or catalog, you may want the first record to print on the
first page, when the first record finishes, print the next record on the same
page. If both records have printed on the same page and there is still enough
room, the next record could start. Once the first page is full, the values left
from the previous record continue on the next page. As you may suspect, these
two scenarios depend on the types of values that the report is asked to print
and of course this highly depends on your intention.

The ability to keep each record on its own page is
controlled by the Keep Together property of a section. To access it,
display the report in Design View and double-click either the section or its
bar. Keep Together is a Boolean property with a Yes and No
options:

If you set Keep Together to Yes, which is the default value,
the first record displays or prints its values on the first page:

If there is still room on that first page, Microsoft Access calculates
how much room the next record needs. If the next record can completely
fit on the remaining area of the first page, then that next record is
put on that first page:

If the next record is too long to fit on that first page, it would not
print on it but would be sent to the next page and the remaining area of
the first page would be left empty:

This evaluation is made for each subsequent record.

If the first record itself is too long to fit on the first page, it
would print on the first page and would continue printing on the next
page. Then, if the next record can fit on that second page (which is
usually unlikely), it would be put on that page

If you set Keep Together to No, the first record displays on
the first page, followed by the next record. If the record gets to the end
of the page, it continues on the next page. This means that the records
would simply continuously print one after the other:

A Report With Multiple Columns

All of the reports we have created so far display in one
vertical list. Such a list is referred to as a column. If a report is made of a
single list and the items of the list are not too wide, you can display the list
in various columns.

To create the columns on a report, first make the list wide
or narrow enough so it can fit more than once on the piece of paper. Then,
display the Page Setup dialog box. In the Page Setup dialog box, set the Number
of Columns text box to a value of your choice.

To display the items of the columns, you have two options.
This option is set in the Column Layout section:

You can put the first item in the first column, the second item in the
second column, the third item in the third column, and so on. When the list
of columns is met, the items continue on the first column, followed by the
subsequent columns. If you want this layout, select the Across, then Down
radio button

You can put the first item in the first column, followed by the second
item in the first column, followed by the third item in the first column,
and so on. When the first column is filled, the list continues on the second
column, then the subsequent columns. If you want to use this layout, select
the Down, then Across radio button.

In the Navigation Pane, double-click the Students List report to open it
in Report View

Right-click the body of the report and click Design View

Click the Office button, position the mouse on Print, and click Print

On the Print dialog box, click Setup...

In the Page Setup dialog box, click the Columns tab

In the Grid Settings section, set the Number of Columns to 2

In the Column Layout section, click

On the Page Setup dialog box, click OK

On the Print dialog box, click Cancel

To preview the report, on the Ribbon, click the arrow under the View
button and click Print Preview

Close the report

When asked whether you want to save, click Yes

Introduction to Grouping Records

Overview

Consider the following table that represents a list of
students:

When creating this type of table, you may have values that
can be considered in categories, such as sold and unsold items, discounted and
not discounted items, or males and females. When preparing a report, you can
show its records by each category. For example, on a table of students, you can
show the list of girls only first. Then, after the group of girls, you would
show the list of boys. This is referred to as grouping the records.

Practical
Learning: Introducing Groups

From the resources that accompany our lessons, open the Altair Realtors2 database

To create a new report, on the Ribbon, click Create and, in the Report
section, click Report Design

Right-click the title bar of the report and click Save

Set the name to Properties By Type and press Enter

If the Properties window is not available, on the Ribbon, click Design
and, in the Tools section, click Property Sheet.
On the Properties window, click the Data tab, click Record Source, type p
and press Enter

Creating a Group Header

To create a group of records on a report, you have various
options. You can let the Report Wizard assist you or you can work manually. If
you want to create the group yourself, first open the report in Design View and
specify, or make sure, its Record Source has a table. Then:

On the Ribbon, you can click the Group & Sort button

Right-click somewhere on the report and click Grouping and Sorting

This would add a new section titled Group, Sort, and Total
under the report:

One of the buttons in the new section is titled Add a Group.
To create a new group, you can click that button. This would change the contents
of the window and display a new button with a popup window that shows the fields
of the table specified as the Record Source:

From the popup window, you can click the name of the field
you want to use as the group leader. Here is an example:

This would add a new bar and section to the report above the
Detail bar. The bar of the new section would display the name of the field
followed by Header. Here is an example:

Also, under the report, the contents of the Group, Sort, and
Total window would be changed into a new bar that displays the name of the field
that was selected.

Practical
Learning: Creating a Group

In the Design tab of the Ribbon and in the Grouping & Totals section,
click the Group & Sort button

Under the report, click the Add a Group button

In the window that appears, click Property Type

Designing a Group

After creating a group, you can add, or continue to add, the
fields to the report. One of the most important, but not required, aspects of
design is that you should add the field that holds the same name to the new
section:

That way, when the report prints, the name of the group
would show before the related records: remember that the report bars do not show
on the printed paper. After adding the field in its section, you can add, or you
can continue adding, the other fields. Those other fields should be added to the
Detail section or the section under the group header. If you include their
labels, these labels would show for each field:

This can appear unprofessional or redundant to some eyes. A
better alternative is to put the labels of those child fields in the section of
the group header, and put the controls in the section under the group leader.
Here is an example:

Notice that, by default, the Detail section repeats to show
each record related to the group leader. Therefore, another aspect of design is
that you should provide room only as much as necessary for each related record.
Here is an example:

Then, when the report displays or when it prints, all
related records would show appropriately:

Still, if each record has some detail, such as a comment or
a calculation you want to add, you can/should include it in the Detail section,
probably under the other fields.

Practical
Learning: Designing a Group

Design the report as follows:

Right-click the title bar of the report and click Print Preview

Save, print, and close the report

Adding a Sub-Group to a Group

Consider the following table of a list of students:

In a certain table, you may have records that can be
categorized. Then, inside of each category, there may be a sub-category. When
creating a report for such a table, you can create one group, then create
another group inside of that group. You start the report as we described so far:
display it in Design View and specify its Record Source. You also start the
grouping as we saw above. In the Group, Sort, and Total window, click the Add a
Group button and select the primary group. Here is an example:

As mentioned already, a bar would be added to the Group,
Sort, and Total section. Under that bar, there would be a new Add a Group button
and a dotted curved line joining them:

To create a sub-group, you can click the Add a Group button
to display the list of fields and click a field from that list:

A new section would be added under the main one and it would
have the same name of the field that was added, followed by Header:

Notice that under the report, a bar for the new group is
added and it has its own Add a Group button, which indicates that, if necessary,
you can create another sub-section. You can continue the same approach to create
as many sub-sections as you judge necessary.

When designing the report, in the main section, you should
add only its own field. In the group under it, you should add the field of that
group and the labels of the related records if that section does not have its
own sub-group. Then, in the Detail section, add the last fields of the grouping:

Removing a Group

If you have a group you do not like on a report, you can get
rid of it. To remove one group, under the report, click the Delete button that
corresponds to it. You would receive a warning so you can make your final
decision. If you delete a sub-group, only its section would be removed from the
report. If you delete a group that has one or more sub-groups, its section and
its sub-sections would be removed from the report.

The Characteristics of a Group

Forcing a New Page

When creating a report, you add the fields of the records as
you see fit in the desired sections and groups. As seen with the Keep
Together Boolean property, you can exercise some control on how many records
print on one page based on the number of fields of each record. We saw that if
many records could fit on one page, then they would be grouped on that one page.
In some cases, you may want each record on its own page, even if the record has
only a few values, even if many records can fit on one page. Displaying each
record on its own page is referred to as forcing a new page.

The ability to force each record on its own page is
controlled by the Force New Page enumerated property. To use it, access
the Properties window for a section or group. From the Format or the All tab,
click Force New Page, and click the arrow of its combo box to display the
list of options:

None: This is the default value and simply specifies that the
record will print on the page

Before Section: The section or group will print in the top section
of a new page and the rest of the page could be left empty. The next section
or group would print on the next page:

If you create a report with various groups, probably the best way to use the
Before Section option is to apply it on the first or main group. This
would display each record on its own page

After Section: This section or group will print on this page. Then
the section or group after this one will print in the top section of the
next page

Before & After: This section or group will print in the
top section of this page. Then the section or group after this one will
print in the top section of the next page

Practical
Learning: Creating a Catalogue

The Altair Realtors2
database should still be opened.
On the Ribbon, click Create.
In the Reports section, click Report Design